Interesting Links for 19-01-2026

[andrewducker]

1. Statement by Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom

(tags:UK Europe Greenland USA )

2. The 6-7 craze offered a brief window into the hidden world of children

(tags:children behaviour language )

3. A message from Peter Jackson before the anniversary edition of The Fellowship Of The Ring

(tags:lotr video movies )

4. A message from Peter Jackson before the anniversary edition of The Two Towers

(tags:lotr peterjackson video movies )

5. Peter Jackson's final video message before The Return of the King

(tags:lotr video peterjackson movies )

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

Thank you! Especially regarding 67!

Six Seven - 2 things

[agoodwinsmith]

One

This article discusses 6-7 as an opportunity for "synchronizing" - a chance for a shared feeling:
https://carlynbeccia.medium.com/a-sane-adults-quest-for-the-hidden-meaning-behind-the-6-7-craze-853fbf33f596

Two

I just now realized that I grew up with the phrase "everything is at sixes and sevens" which meant that there was no meaning to be had or made out of the collection of things and events currently present. It was occasionally accompanied by a half-completed gesture of shrugging hands and shoulders up. It wasn't an expression of despair or hysteria, but rather a mild statement of the situation, and that the observer(s) couldn't see how it connected to the past or the expected future. It described a non-scary situation that was going to take tedious effort to sort out.

I'm trying to remember the context in which it was said. I think it was mostly late 50's, dying out in later decades. I think it was used to describe other people's situations. I think it was used by my maternal grandmother who spent her first 35 years a US citizen in Montana and Washington state. I don't believe I ever saw it written. And, now that I think more about it, I realize that it was usually used in the past tense (everything was at sixes and sevens), and seldom to describe the speaker's situation. A phrase to use during gossip (or family news). And the numbers were always plural.

Huh.

Re: Six Seven - 2 things

[andrewducker]

I'd completely forgotten about "6s and 7s"!

Re: Six Seven - 2 things

[jducoeur]

"At sixes and sevens with you" shows up in the musical Evita, in the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" -- that's the most famous occurrence of that idiom that I'm aware of...